Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki has defended the actions of police officers during the June 25 protests, where several demonstrators were reportedly shot. In his appearance before the National Assembly National Security Committee, Kindiki argued that the police cannot be solely blamed for the deaths, emphasizing the need for substantial evidence to prove that police bullets caused the fatalities.
“The fact that somebody has been shot is not conclusive evidence that they have been shot by a police officer. Maybe there is a presumption that that bullet belongs to a police officer,” Kindiki stated. He justified the police’s use of force, citing the need to protect key national institutions, including Parliament, from being overrun during the demonstrations. “If we never applied force on that fateful day, we would have been talking about a different Kenya,” he asserted.
Kindiki acknowledged that 42 Kenyans lost their lives during the anti-government protests between June and August but disputed claims from Amnesty International and other human rights organizations, which reported a higher death toll of 61. He expressed uncertainty about the circumstances surrounding the deaths of 12 individuals and requested 24 hours to gather information on these cases.
Amnesty International, in its findings, reported conducting interviews with 23 eyewitnesses and analyzing extensive visual evidence from the protests. The organization also highlighted that there have been 67 documented cases of enforced disappearances this year, with 40 cases resolved, leaving 27 unresolved.
